It was just a small pine bough there on the sidewalk. But I was obliged to pick it up and take it to my office.

I have always loved the smell, the look—even the feel of pine trees. It must go back to my childhood at Christmastime. To this day, the smell of a pine tree brings back so many happy memories, and whenever I pass by a Christmas tree lot, I like to stand there and just sniff the air.

Confession. I keep some contact names in my Outlook address book even after they have passed away. A former boss. A friend. I just can’t bring myself to delete their names. For example, there’s this guy I met in the pulpit of a church in Romania.

It was one of the first times I ever preached in Ploiesti, the oil producing town an hour north of Bucharest. Stefan (not his real name) stood next to me and translated the message with remark[...]